China to further promote innovation and entrepreneurship

China will go further in innovation-driven development and entrepreneurship, with more policy incentives for entrepreneurship from overseas.

A guideline was approved at a State Council executive meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang on July 12 to further enhance the support for innovation and entrepreneurship.

China will establish an integrated digital business license registry, and enable one-stop registration for foreign enterprises and their domestic counterparts within a given time frame for due procedures.

The State will simplify procedures in work and residential permit applications for high-caliber foreign talent, and test integrated services in housing, schooling and medical care. Overseas students in China who start new businesses can also apply for residential permits using their diplomas.

“Mass entrepreneurship and innovation has been an effective driver for both economic growth and the consistent transition between traditional and new growth engines. It has also significantly contributed to the creation of new jobs and the increase in incomes,” Premier Li said.

The push for mass entrepreneurship and innovation was first put forward by the Premier during the annual meeting of the New Champions 2014 in Tianjin.

Statistics by the State Administration for Industry and Commerce show that the country saw the registration of more than 13 million new enterprises between March 2014 and February 2017, 94.6 percent of which are in the private sector, adding an average of 15,600 new enterprises on a daily basis in the first five months of this year, giving employment a major boost.

According to the guideline, China will also put in place programs to support Chinese students overseas to return for business startups and innovation, and enable overseas Chinese entrepreneurs, including those from Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions, to enjoy the same public services as local residents.

More efforts will go to the protection of intellectual property rights, while invigorating technology markets and exploring a mechanism that can ensure timely commercialization of research findings with fiscal support in some areas.

According to the guideline, the country will also expand the funding channels for enterprises, including measures to enhance credit support and related services and reform on rules for State capital to take part in venture capital investment.

The upgrading of the real economy will get a boost from enhancing the development of innovation and entrepreneurship platforms, the sharing economy and the digital economy.

The development of industrial internet and advanced manufacturing and land use for innovation and entrepreneurship purposes will be given priorities.

“We should keep promoting entrepreneurship and innovation, and give full play to the initiative and creativity of the public. The R & D outcomes should be put to full use so that we can better draw on the wisdom of the public,” Premier Li said.

“The internal strength of the new growth drivers should be fully converted into new growth engines of the Chinese economy.”

The State Council executive meeting on June 7 decided to set up more high-level demonstration bases for mass entrepreneurship and innovation covering all provincial-level areas. Last year, 28 such zones were established, playing a pivotal role in helping the transformation and upgrading of the local economy, the China Association for Science and Technology said in a report.

The government will also innovate its administration to further promote fair competition, step up prudent and tolerance oversight, widen market access, improve tax services and create an enabling environment for entrepreneurship and innovation.

Premier Li said China needs to ensure that different policies can be fully implemented.

Entrepreneurship and innovation within major enterprises is of great significance as it gives rise to customized production and a change in production organization, he said. It also enables them to better adapt to personalized demands in the information age, the Premier added.